Eclipse Ch. 04

The next 24 hours were busy.

Quinn began with a drive-through of the region surrounding the meet, then parked his speeder and walked around. The small but elaborate scanning equipment in the glasses he wore built up a three-dimensional map of the area and walking let him get a feel for the streets and the layout. Then it was back to Voroth's to negotiate the rental of a better class of speeder from Meriyk. He liked his own transport, but it was utterly out of place where he was going tomorrow.

Then it was back to his ship to plan some escape routes. He and Scarlet were both professionals, so he assumed things would go well. But it always paid to plan for the worst - that way, when it happened, you could cope. Satisfied, he crawled into his bunk and got some sleep. Sleep was unexpectedly fitful, filled with dreams of Scarlet. Some erotically charged, but others tinged with memory. He awoke frustrated and horny, and with the strongest sensation that he knew her from somewhere.

He would have to consider that later, though. For now, Quinn Hale needed to disappear. So he pushed himself into the tiny fresher and let the ultrasonics clean the day's dirt and grime away. Then he spent a profitable few hours altering his appearance. A hair rinse, darkening him several shades towards brown. Contacts that turned his eyes grey. Nostril and cheek pads, subtly changing the apparent structure of his face. Inserts in a pair of black dress shoes, changing his walk and posture slightly. To all of that, he added his best suit, cut loose so he could conceal a number of interesting tools and weapons of questionable legality.

Quinn Hale's career had been long and varied. "Merc" barely scratched the surface of his resume.

At the appointed hour he looked up in front of the Velvet Spire in a sleek black stretch speeder. Stepping from the driver's compartment, he looked every inch the sort of chauffeur/bodyguard that the Black Sun might employ. He strode towards the doorman. "Quipan Viss," he declared, using one of the names he'd given Scarlet. "I'm supposed to take Shadi to a party for my employers."

All of which was true. From a certain point of view.

*****

Kaydia sat in from of the vanity combing out the Shadi wig. Already dressed in the strappy dress, she spent a few more moments as herself before putting on the mask. Quinn was supposed to pick her up within twenty minutes, and after demonstrating a professional punctuality in their first two meetings, so she had no reason to suspect he would be late today. It was plenty of time to put on makeup and her wig.

She opted for a dramatic look. Bright red lips, dark intense cat eye liner, smoky eye shadow and big fake lashes. Just the kind of dolled up high end escort who would be hired to entertain a small meeting between potential business partners. The blonde wig was the last piece to complete the masquerade. She paired the provocative dress with a long leather trench coat, cinched at the waist, just barely exposing her cleavage, if one were looking hard enough. Lastly she picked up the lozenges, having had them thoroughly checked for toxins. The plan was to take them right before going into the meeting.

All that was left was to wait for Quinn to arrive.

"A QuipanViss is here for you." Came the voice over the intercom.

"I'll be right down," was her reply, replacing the contacts. Shadi had blue eyes, to go with her blonde hair. She made her way downstairs and outside, nodding approvingly at the speeder he brought.

"Shall we?' She asked, making her way to the passenger compartment of the speeder. He wasn't quite the casually handsome man she had shared dinner and banter with the night before. Underneath it all, he still was, but it was different enough that most people wouldn't pick up on it if they didn't know. She might not have picked up it if she didn't know. If she didn't have a reason to pay attention. Suddenly the gnawing feeling that they had met before came back. Had she seen him in one of his disguises? How long had he been on Mustafar? If was possible they had crossed paths before.

It probably didn't mean anything. They ran in similar lines of business, after all. As long as he wasn't gunning for her...She took a moment, accessing those abilities that she tried to keep hidden, especially around the kind of men who liked to carry lightsabers on their person. At the moment, knowing if he intended to hurt her seemed more important than concealing her ability to manipulate the force. Besides, Jedi didn't come all the way to the outer rim with no back up to do odd jobs for Cartels. That was just absurd.

There was a cold detachment about him, as she probed for emotions. A professional, in all ways, including in his mind. She closed the mental link and relaxed back into the leather, getting herself into that same professional detachment disposition, overlaid with the playful personality of a working girl.

Layers upon layer upon layers.

The meeting took place at a safehouse, where these kinds of clandestine meetings always took place. Bribing bureaucrats, intimidating law enforcement, colluding with politicians, and apparently making deals with rival cartels to divert shipments their way. At the right price. That was Shadi's job, to make one side so stupid the other got the better end of the arrangement. People, men in particular, were stupid when it came to sex, which is why she wore the Shadi mask most often. She swallowed the transmitter lozenge.

Outside the house, a Trandoshan andGamorrean stood watch, leering her as she approached. The Gamorrean was probably here for Balish Klynt, the representative of the Hutt cartel. Which meant the Trandoshan was guarding Vouru Kaish. She approached him now, stepping into Shadi's skin.

"I do believe your boss is expecting me," She announced in a sultry timbre, meeting his eyes. Trying to at least, as his eyes wandered down her figure and drank in her cleavage. She didn't to look at the Gamorrean to know he was also gawking.

"I imagine he is," the bodyguard said when he finally met her eyes again. The was a look of lust and jealousy in his eyes, yet also filled with the knowledge that she could be bought. Even by a man like him, if this deal went through. Of course everyone could be bought if one possessed the right currency.

With a nod, she was let in, and in the living quarters, she came face to face with a Quarren, Balish Klynt, while Vouru Kiash, the Falleen, sat with his back to her.

"You hired some entertainment?" Balish asked, watching her take off her coat to reveal the rather revealing outfit she had chosen to wear.

"Yeah, to celebrate our deal!" Vouru declared, holding up his half-full glass.

"We haven't come to a deal yet," the Quarren reminded him, not yet done inspecting Shadi.

"Well, we should get back to it then," The Falleen suggesting, draining his glass. "Or we could take a break from talking and enjoy the lovely company of..." He looked at her know and for a brief moment his brow furrowed before it relaxed, and he grinned at her "What is your name, hun?"

"Shadi," She said with a smirk, giggling as the Falleen pulled her into his lap. Despite his actions, she could sense fear and anger in him now, at the sight of her, and the mention of his name. This wasn't good. "Could I get a drink? Maybe a Whiskey?" She said, activating the communication pill she already swallowed, alerting Quinn as to the trouble she was anticipating.

*****

Quinn settled back into the soft leather of the rental speeder as he watched Scarlet walk towards the building. Any other time he'd have been content to simply watch her move, as there was a sensual grace in the sway of her hips and the movement of her legs. But this was business now, and he maintained a professional detachment as she chatted with the door guards and then passed within.

A Trandoshan and a Gammorean, he noted. The kind of muscle you hired if you wanted to look like you had hired muscle. Big and intimidating. He figured he could kill them both, if he had to. But, he reflected as he started the speeder up, it would be better if he didn't have to. Quiet, clean jobs were much nicer jobs.

The speeder slid away silently. No need to alert the thugs at the door that he was more than the chauffeur. He parked a half kilometer away, watching the front entrance through the feed from the microdot camera he'd left the previous evening. The resolution was grainy, and the images black and white, but they would serve.

Cracking open a bottle, Quinn poured himself a cup of tea. This was going to be a long night.

After a bit, his earpiece crackled to life. Scarlett's voice came through, along with the voices of the others in the room. All were flat and mildly distorted, a side effect of the compression and decompression, but something about the tones made him set his mug aside and listen more intently.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

*****

"Now, Shadi, I should tell you, I am in mourning today," Vouru explained, hand on her chin to keep her looking into his eyes.

"Oh?" She asked in feigned interest. Probably some ploy to get special attention.

"Yeah, my good friend died last night. Zerrid An. Brilliant scientist. And interestingly enough, according to the holovid security, I recovered from his place shows he had one visitor last night, just before he died. You." The Falleen explained as she felt the cool steel barrel of his blaster pistol press against her throat. She did not show the fear that was pooling in the pit of her stomach. "So, I am guessing that I finally get to meet the Cartel's assassin, Scarlet. I really wish it had been under better circumstances."

"Now, you are going to tell me who sent you to kill me. And Then...maybe we each take a turn with you. Let you prove that you are worth too much to get dumped in a ditch." The blaster pressed against her chin as he whispered in her ear, the other hand still wrapped around her waist.

"Linora Sunfell," She said without hesitation. It was life or death now, and if that name escaped this room it was death for her for sure. Assuming she escaped at all. Still, though, there was a chance. Sex did make men stupid.

"That human bitch?" he asked thoughtfully, before nodding as the idea grew on him. "I didn't think you'd give the name up so easily." She could feel his grubby finger groping at her breast.

"I am loyal to my credit account alone. And I can't get paid if I am dead," She explained simply, holding the fear and disgust just below the surface. The Falleen laughed.

"No, no you can't," he said, eyeing the skin exposed by the panels of her dress. "So why don't you give up being an assassin, and take up whoring yourself out? I bet you are better on your back..."

"You have no idea," She whispered back at him, running a finger down his face. "They send me because I am the best death imaginable." Despite his grasp, she started standing, pulling him towards what the bedroom. "Why don't I show you? Or does your friend get to go first?"

Vouru looked over at Balish and snickered, "Fuck that, I paid for you." He kept the gun trained on her as he rose, a lascivious grin growing on his face. She returned his smile with one of her own, as she spotted the sharp corner of the stone stairs. Channeling all of her fear and anger to that point, she pushed Vouru, the strength of her force attack sending him flying away at high velocity. His head connected with the stone corner in a sickening crunch, green blood pooling under his body. Luckily for him, the death was instantaneous.

She kicked the pistol out of the Quarren's hands as he fumbled to aim it. Reaching out into the force, she visualized his heart, pounding in his chest. Her finger tightened into a fist as she saw it in her mind, feeling it throb with increasing intensity. The powerful muscles fighting desperately against her grasp, sending adrenaline throughout his system in rapid motion. The hatred and fear she felt soon overcame his resistance, as the organ popped from the pressure, leaving Balish to seize on the ground painfully for the last minute of his life. She sprinted over to the gun and hid behind the door frame, anticipating the arrival of the two bodyguards any moment now.

****

Fuck.

The little bursts of compressed and uncompressed audio made it abundantly clear that things had gone utterly ploin-shaped inside. He couldn't see what was going on, of course, but it was clear that Scarlet's identity had been revealed. "So, I am guessing that I finally get to meet the Cartel's assassin, Scarlet." That was a dead giveaway.

He fired up the speeder, then froze for a heartbeat at another exchange. "Linora Sunfell." He'd been looking for her for years. He'd known she was involved. But... hearing that name, after all this time? It still struck him hard. Unbidden memories of the young woman he'd known - he'd thought he'd known - flooded back, reminding him of better days. When he'd been young, too, and they'd been in love.

Before the bitch betrayed everything they'd believed in. Before she'd framed him for murder.

He stuffed the emotions away. "There is no emotion," he growled to himself, hurtling ithe speeder forward and trying to believe the words, "there is peace." Time enough for recriminations and memories later. For now, Scarlet needed backup.

The speeder tore through the dark streets, slowing to a halt before the gates. Quinn tumbled out the driver's door and moved, scrambling to the top of the speeder and vaulting the gate in a smooth leap that should have been impossible without a running start. His blaster - a heavy Mandalorian thing - seemed to materialize in his hand, and he blasted the Trandoshan down as he turned to see what had happened. The Gammorean dodged left, then left again, steadily advancing as he kept ahead of Quinn's relentless blaster fire. Holes gouged in the walls as his shots impacted moments too late. The big creature came in at him, axe flashing.

Quinn spun, pivoting with the blow. As a result, although his blaster spun away from his grip, he as still in a single piece. He completed the spin with balletic grace, a snake-hiss and a wan white light accompanying him as he completed the turn. The Gammorean barely had time to squeal in agony as the pale blade sheared through him, slashing upwards from left hip to right shoulder.

Quinn was running for the door as the bisected Gammorean hit the ground. Time enough to find his blaster later.

*****

Kaydia heard the blasters going off outside. Quinn had her back. Or he was already dead. That thought brought rage and guilt, emotions she was having trouble pushing down.

There is no emotion, Kaydia, only peace. Master Bry-Ta words came through, trying to soothe her, trying to get her to focus. Feel through the force. How many heartbeats are out there?

She tried to calm herself, to sense the other beings out there, but the only heartbeat she was aware of was the one beating out of her own chest. It was too late for Jedi teachings now. Too late for her, as the two dead bodies in the other room spoke for. As dozens of dead bodies before her had set in stone her fall from the light side. The path she had started upon when she killed Master Bry-Ta.

The door burst open and she stiffened for a moment, fingers turning white over the handle of her gun. A deep breath later she peered out, pistol before her, ready to take a shot as a potential hostile. But it was Quinn, lightsaber in hand. A sigh of relief escaped her lips, as she fixed the top of her dress and came out from behind the door frame.

"You are well worth whatever I am paying you," She praised, reaching for her trenchcoat.

"I'm worth a lot more than that," he countered, making the saber disappear inside his suit coat. "But I'll take the compliment anyway."

"Let's get out of here. Someone from Black Sun will be by to clean up the mess."

"Mess?" he asked, a smile curving his lips. "I see no mess. I'm pretty sure that the both of us were several kilometers from here, having a quiet dinner in a discrete restaurant I know." The grin got a little broader. "A discrete restaurant operated by a friend of mine. How could we have possibly seen a mess here, when we were there?"

As they exited the building, he glanced around. Stepping into the shadows of the corner for a moment, he returned with the pistol he'd been forced to drop earlier. "Of course,' he added, tucking it away and opening the gate, "not leaving evidence behind lends credence to our story. And are you hungry? I did actually make the reservations, so we may as well shore up our alibi by being seen there."

The playful banter was surprising. And welcome. Her heart still pounded from how close she had come to being the one dead on the floor, but seeing him alive and safe, and not even mad that she mussed up the job? She was feeling much better already, the darkness encroaching upon her already fading away. She returned his smile, genuinely, to her own surprise.

That he had prepared an alibi for them was also surprising. She hadn't asked him to do that, and wouldn't have bothered herself. Black Sun had all the law enforcement in its pocket. And the one who couldn't be bought? Well, she had seen to them personally, when she was the cartel's loyal killer. She was caught in the guilt, for a moment, as Quinn picked up his pistol from the bushes.

"I would love that," she said warmly, following him back to the speeder. He was charming, and it would be nice to lose a few hours in his eyes and company. While she swallowed down the craving for Inertia that bounced through her brain. It was a Pavlonian response. She completed her kill, she earned her reward. And the numbing effects of Inertia would drown the rage and fear and disgust that had powered her attacks, and continued to course through her veins. But, perhaps she could find something else to crave. Or someone, as she eyed her handsome companion.